Womb Children Understand Facial Expressions

A new research, led by scientists at Lancaster University in in the UK, reveals that infants show a preference for faces while still in the womb. This discovery opens up a new region of study that is pre-natal, say scientists.
Prof. Vincent Reid, lead researcher of the research and psychologist at Lancaster University, worked with collaborators from Blackpool NHS Trust, the University of Cumbria, and Durham University, all-in the U.K. Their findings were printed in Current Biology.

Previous studies have indicated that infants at delivery choose to engage with faces rather than other types of stimuli. Until now, nevertheless, it was not known if this choice was current in infants before delivery. The fetal head that is new study analyzed turns in reaction to to stimuli. In total, 39 fetuses at 3-4 weeks gestation were given upright and inverted face. Their responses were watched with high quality 4-D ultrasound.

Upright and inverted “faces”, consisting of three dots by means of of a triangle, were projected onto the mother’s stomach. Both picture types moved away from your baby to see whether their head would change and were demonstrated to one aspect of the infant face. While the fetuses moved their heads to monitor the up right face-like designs, no motion was noticed using the projections that were inverted. These outcomes show that it wasn’t the routine itself the fetus liked best, but a face shape was likened to by the specific arrangement of dots.